1 ~ White Mist, Red Strings and Shallow Water ~

~ Hi Hi Senpai, Morning ne~

Wake up Senpai, meow nya! ~

I grumbled, groggily opening my eyes to look at the alarm ringing in my phone by the side desk, the special edition wake up tune flashing brightly, the digital clock reminding me it was morning.

The closed curtains split at the center as morning light came in through the parting, illuminating the cream walls with a pale glow.

Tapping the alarm off, I reluctantly sat up, the thick blanket falling over my waist, as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands to clear away the haze.

I yawned, stretching a bit, the soft night shirt ticking my skin.

Scratching an unknown itch, I climbed out of my bed, walking in a daze, navigating through a range of stuff which I had been reluctant to pick up yesterday.

"Raven~" the loud sing song voice came from behind the door, the high pitch of it annoying early in the morning.

"Risa," I mumbled, opening the door to see my sister peeking in, her dark hair tied up in a small ponytail and soft fringes falling over her eyes.

"I am going to school, do you need that album you were talking about? My friend said she had an extra."

Ah!

"Yes! Yes!" I nodded my head frantically, all my sleep vanishing in the mist.

She giggled, raising her palm up in front of my chest, "Then pay up, I am not investing my pocket money on your echi stuff."

I rolled my eyes, it wasn't echi stuff, it was actually an album released by the korean kpop girlgroup, and I had been dying to get the parcel. But unfortunately, some error occurred and they parceled me a boyband album instead. Not that I had anything against boys, but girls were more pretty and I liked their voices singing together. So...

Already searching through my drawers to find my wallet, I bit my lips in worry.

Last night I had been too tired to do anything, my part time job at the restaurant was too draining. Even if I was simply a bus boy, that did not mean my task would be any lesser than the others.

I was a college student actually, and since the college was nearby, I did not go for the dorm system, and instead was simply a day scholar.

For some people it would be boring, but for me it was nice to stay back at home and chill. Mom was there to serve me food and Dad gave me the pocket money whenever I wanted it. So life was easy.

Yes I was teased by my colleagues, however I didn't pay it any mind, having a home's comfort was a rare gift.

"Hurry up, I have an exam today," my sister whined, stomping on the ground with her foot like a child. And her slim and small built actually made her immaturity look cute.

"Just a minute okay," I grumbled, scattering the contents of my first drawer to find my wallet.

My family comprised of mixed races, since my ancestors were rooted back to China.

My Great great grandma (Chinese) was married into a Japanese family and her son who was a mix of Chinese and Japanese, went to Korea to study some medicine, and ended up settling down with a Korean wife.

Now my Grandparents were mixed Asians, but it so happened that they settled in America and their children married to White Americans. My mom, who was their daughter, married my father, who was from United States but even his ancestors weren't American but instead Norwegian. So, as anyone could guess, I was the heir to several different heritages.

Alas, I did not inherit any features from my father's genes but ended up looking like a mix of many Asian races... but I was taller than average Asians and so I considered that aspect of me a rarity inherited from my father's side.

People who saw me actually found me handsome, and girls who were into kpop or were some fanatic of Eastern culture, would always compliment me, saying I was their perfect idol replacement. Some even said that my face cuts were impressive enough to be debuted in commercials and such.

Not to say that I am handsome, but my facial features would be considered charming by average consensus.

"I am going to be late because of you," my sister finally snapped, making a move to return downstairs, but I stopped her with a shout and quickly rushed out with my finally found wallet in hand.

"I guess it would be this much?" I handed her the amount as she pocketed it in her own purse. Humming a soft melody of the recent hit.

I watched as she patted her now full purse, and skipped away down the stairs, but she did not forget to yell a good bye, which I returned hastily.

And like that my day began.

~~

It was half past 2 when my classes got abruptly suspended, and we were dismissed early.

Walking back home, I took the least used path and bobbed my head with the loud rock beat. The sun was high up, but the weather was pleasant enough to not worry about my sweat.

Suddenly a hand came up in the range of my eyesight and I was startled as I jumped back by instinct.

"Adam," I greeted back with an eye roll, watching the intruder laughing at my fright. His blond hair eye catchy as a few girls that went by, actually turned to spare him a glance.

Well blonds, weren't that rare here, but Adam's was extra pale and was styled according to the latest fashion, plus he was a rich student, so his clothes, and sunglasses, the playboy bearing and the flashy appearance, attracted people like magnets, even if they would end up speaking bad behind his back.

He was rude as hell, and one wouldn't trust his personality, but he liked to hang out with me and even I had no qualms about it. So we managed.

"I am organizing a party this weekend, not exactly decided if it would be Saturday or Sunday," he gave the synopsis with various hand gestures which came instinctually to him, "Don't forget to come, because if you don't come," he warned, his grey eyes piercing, "I will prank your ass until you cry."

"Fine, I will, when is the-" I felt my words halting abruptly, my eyes widening as Adam stared at me with a quirked eyebrow.

"What happened," he even turned to look at the alley which we had taken, the corners clean and the shop entries flashing with Self Advertising banners.

"Ah," I came back to myself, blinking to clear the visual away, "Nothing, so as I was asking earlier..."

Now I blamed what I saw on my mixed heritage, someone must have had some sort of spiritual awareness among my ancestors, because I could see spirits... well not exactly spirits, but more like misty hazy figures which looked like people.

It had started since I was 12, an age where boys didn't know a thing about life, and invested their time in games, friends, and curiosity.

I had been in the playground, when I saw a flash of some misty smoke screening my eyes. At first the air around me had chilled, and then it started to warm up, so much that I had felt my skin perspiring.

And right next, I had cried out at the top of my lungs as I watched several other misty figures condensing around me, some walking, some sitting, some having gestures as if they were chatting.

After that horrifying incident, I learned the reality, where your parents wouldn't listen to your 'fairytales' and your friends would give you the nasty eyes.

And since I never really moved away from the house, my bad impression still haunted me and I had very little friends. Like at most two or three, including Adam.

Those 'friends' didn't tease me now, for they had their share of fun in the junior high, but maintained a rather awkward distance away from me, just in case I went creepy on them.

All in all from that day onward I started seeing misty figures all the time, but it only lasted for a few minutes and never longer. And I was thankful for that.

Adam and I chatted for a while, until his car came to pick him up and he left with a gentle wave.

I watched him go and frowned at the misty figures who were still around.

Watching the time, I noted that this time the spirits were more persistent, they weren't going away.

Waving at them, I sat on the wooden bench by the large willow tree, the soft breeze blowing by as the sound of leaves rustling met my ears.

I hummed along an unknown tune as I sat watching the view. A small park in front of me and a narrow road passing by, dividing the single unit housings and the park.

The sun wasn't as bright but it was still frustrating me, as I scratched my head which I hadn't washed in a while.

I wasn't a dirty person okay, I just didn't like showering, and washed my hair only thrice in a week. Not that people knew, because I was an introvert and loved my room, so often stayed indoors playing games or watching anime. Whatever suited my mood.

"Seems like I have to wash my hair today," I mumbled sadly, sighing to the sky.

I had only closed my eyes for a while, when I heard a soft fluttering noise behind me.

Adjusting my bag, I quickly opened my eyes to see what it was, yet all I saw was a lonely little park.

I blinked, and a flash of black flitted across my vision on the extreme right.

Now aware that something felt wrong, I stood up in a hurry, being careful to not make a lot of noise... and what I saw made my nerves cold.

Right where I had been sitting before, was now occupied by black butterflies, all fluttering erratically at that one spot.

I wondered where they came from, because I did not think such big butterflies would be native to this region.

I stumbled back in fear, dragging my bag in front of me to resist whatever force would attack me, yet nothing really happened, and the butterflies kept fluttering at the same spot as if figuring out a complex mystery.

I had good experience with the supernatural, and my gut told me staying any longer would do me no good.

Other people in my place would try to explore, or like many fictions depicted, they wouldn't believe in what they were seeing and would muse upon it until their fate would be connected to some great otherworldly mystery, leaving them no choice but to go along with it.

But I was a practical person. I believed what I saw and I wasn't the curious types to explore. To be honest I was a very boring person.

For a minute I thought running away was the only option left, but right when I thought about moving, a sharp sweet scent filtered my nose and I blinked, only to find a thick mist seeping around from the crooked base of the willow tree.

"Wh-What is happening...?"

I shivered and instantly took out my phone to dial home, in-case something happened to me and my family would wonder where I went missing. I almost succeeding in dragging my feet away, but some external force kept me stuck at one spot as the mist intensified, floating right at me.

What happened later, how I fell asleep, I don't know, but when I woke up again, a thick blanket of Mist floated around, covering me and my sense.

I gulped, realizing something was suddenly so very wrong.